I’ve tired of click through and spam stories. I’ve been on a quest for e-meaning. Unfortunately, people have had to become chronic deleters instead of readers just to survive the onslaught of unwanted e-missives.

But in reading over various articles this month I found two campaigns that I thought were worthy of retelling. Both revolve around the entertainment industry and reveal interesting dynamics about audience behavior. Hope you find value in these two case studies:

More than half of American households have their TV sets in the same room as their computers. The synergies there have yet to be developed. The potential is wide open.

For some marketers driving traffic to web sites may actually be passé in comparison to moving eyeballs to the TV screen. A recent DMNews article (1/15/03) reported that an e-mail campaign to 10 million people helped USA Network draw 4.1 million viewers to the season premiere of "The Dead Zone" Jan. 5, making it the No. 2-rated second-season premiere ever for a drama on a cable network.

The names came from eUniverse's opt-in list of entertainment newsletters with an emphasis on those interested in television and science fiction. Drew a 17 percent response rate.

USA Network has found that it’s important to vary the content of its campaigns to keep people interested, to enhance viral marketing and to keep in step with the changing tone of the show.

This next campaign story that I also found in DMNews (1/2/03) is an excellent example of how certain large entities can leverage local or regional in-house e-mail lists to accomplish swift and profitable results and rejuvenate the local economy.

About 150,000 people in the New York metropolitan area were targeted for an e-mail campaign marketing for "Movin' Out," a Broadway show based on the songs of Billy Joel.

The e-mail was sent Dec. 5 with the offer good through Dec. 7. Ticket prices were not lowered for the Internet exclusive. The seats that were made available were sold to the public after Dec. 7.

The e-mail list was built to include those who bought tickets to concerts and classic rock acts, since the show was positioned for a rock ‘n roll audience. About 125,000 of the names came from a Ticketmaster list. New York radio station WPLJ-FM sent the e-mail to everyone on its e-mail blast list and a few were sent by Sony to its Billy Joel fan club.

"Movin' Out" tickets are priced at $100, $70 and $40. The campaign which cost about $5,000 to do, brought in $125,00 to $150,000 in ticket sales.

Executives quoted in the story claimed that Broadway usually has done little marketing with local ads and postcards. Now they are finding the return on investment for e-mail marketing is huge.

What’s most interesting about this campaign is that it opened up more seats to the local market. Traditionally tourists buy about 60 percent of the tickets to Broadway shows. This was definitely a brilliant and cost effective way to market Broadway to native New Yorkers. More Broadway shows may follow suit.

SNAPSHOT OF AGES 45 - 65+ ONLINE:
What do they buy online?

Comprehensive data from a December 2002 report on Baby Boomers (those aged 45-54), conducted by Mature Marketing & Research revealed that, in addition to e-mail, most survey respondents used the Internet to research health issues, comparison shop for big ticket items, read online newspapers and newsletters, and check investments.

Research from Jupiter indicates that online buyers, ages 50 and over, will account for almost one-quarter of all online retail spending by 2007, and older users are more likely to make an Internet purchase due to an online ad, with 30 percent claiming to have done so versus only 19 percent of the overall online adult population.

Equal to the overall Internet population, books were the most popular item to be purchased online at 52 percent of SeniorNet respondents. Similarly, the Mature Marketing & Research report found that books and travel dominate purchases.

The Mature Marketing & Research report revealed that female boomers were more likely to make purchases online than men, while men tended to use the Internet more for research -- particularly software and travel items. Those findings are supported by a SeniorNet survey that found that 61 percent of respondents researched computer software or hardware online to purchase offline, followed by travel packages, plane tickets, rental cars, etc. at 55 percent.

(As reported in cyberatlas, 1/23/03)

Explores the ethnic gap in online shopping and Internet access, noting that while minorities are gaining on whites when it comes to Internet access, "substantial gaps" remain in online shopping. Example: African-Americans are slightly more than 10% of the online population but accounted for just 4% of online shoppers this holiday season, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. One explanation is that African Americans have less online experience - and as that changes, they will shop on the Internet more. But there are other reasons - including a "relatively low" rate of credit card ownership among blacks. The story also looks at what some online retailers are doing to deal with buyers who don't have credit cards, including taking electronic checks.

http://www.corante.com/internet/redir/14910.html

(As reported in Corante 1/13/03)